Ostomy pouch

Abstract

An ostomy pouch comprises a cavity for storing stomal output. The cavity is defined by a rear wall and a front wall joined at their peripheries and formed of flexible sheet material. The ostomy pouch further comprises a sheet of woven comfort material covering the outside surface of the front wall. The sheet of comfort material has an outside surface and an opposite inside surface, and the outside surface of the sheet of comfort material forms at least part of the outside surface of the pouch. The inside surface of the sheet of comfort material is laminated across its entire surface to a layer of slit film material. At least part of the slit film material is adjacent, facing and unbonded to the outside surface of the front wall.

1 . An ostomy pouch comprising a cavity for storing stomal output;
 the cavity defined by a rear wall and a front wall joined at their peripheries and formed of flexible sheet material;   the ostomy pouch further comprising a sheet of woven comfort material covering the outside surface of the front wall;   the sheet of comfort material having an outside surface and an opposite inside surface, wherein the outside surface of the sheet of comfort material forms at least part of the outside surface of the pouch, and the inside surface of the sheet of comfort material is laminated across its entire surface to a layer of slit film material with no intervening adhesive;   at least part of the slit film material being adjacent, facing and unbonded to the outside surface of the front wall.   
     
     
         2 . An ostomy pouch according to  claim 1  wherein the slit film material has at least 3 slits. 
     
     
         3 . An ostomy pouch according to  claim 1 or 2  wherein the slit film has at least 10 slits. 
     
     
         4 . An ostomy pouch according to  claim 3  wherein the slit film has between 1 and 10 slits per cm 2 . 
     
     
         5 . An ostomy pouch according to  claim 4  wherein the slit film material has between 3 and 7 slits per cm 2 . 
     
     
         6 . An ostomy pouch according to  any preceding claim  wherein the slit film material has an area density of 5-50 g/m 2 . 
     
     
         7 . An ostomy pouch according to  claim 6  wherein the slit film material has an area density of 18-30 g/m 2 . 
     
     
         8 . An ostomy pouch according to  any preceding claim  wherein the slit film material and the front and rear walls are formed of polymers with the same chemical structure. 
     
     
         9 . An ostomy pouch according to  any preceding claim  wherein the slit film material and the front and rear walls are formed of polymers with the same molecular weight M n . 
     
     
         10 . An ostomy pouch according to  any preceding claim  wherein the slit film material and the front and rear walls are formed of polymers with the same melting point, M p . 
     
     
         11 . An ostomy pouch according to  any preceding claim  wherein the slit film material and the front and rear walls are formed of polymers obtained from the same source, with the same designation. 
     
     
         12 . An ostomy pouch according to  any preceding claim  wherein the slit film material is formed of EVA. 
     
     
         13 . An ostomy pouch according to  claim 12  wherein the front and rear walls are formed of EVA. 
     
     
         14 . An ostomy pouch according to  any preceding claim  wherein the woven comfort material has fewer slits than the slit film. 
     
     
         15 . A method of forming a comfort layer laminate for bonding to a cavity of an ostomy pouch; the method comprising laminating a layer of slit film material directly to a sheet of comfort material, with no intervening adhesive layer. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 15  wherein the slit film material is laminated to the sheet of comfort material under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure, by calendaring. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 15 or 16  wherein the slit film material has an even thickness across the entire surface of the sheet of woven comfort material, the thickness being between 20 and 30 microns across the entire surface of the sheet of woven comfort material; wherein the slit film material has an area density of 18-30 g/m 2 ; and
 wherein the slit film material and the front and rear walls are formed of EVA. 
 
     
     
         18 . A method of forming an ostomy pouch, the method comprising: providing a sheet of comfort material having a layer of slit film material laminated across the entirety of a first surface, and bonding only part of the first surface of the sheet of comfort material to the outside surface of a wall of a cavity of the ostomy pouch, whereby at least part of the slit film material is adjacent, facing and unbonded to the outside surface of the front wall. 
     
     
         19 . A method of forming an ostomy pouch comprising first forming a comfort layer laminate for application to a cavity of an ostomy pouch; the method comprising laminating a layer of slit film material directly to a sheet of comfort material, with no intervening adhesive layer, to provide a sheet of comfort material having a slit film material laminated across the entirety of a first surface; and then forming an ostomy pouch, by bonding only part of the first surface of the sheet of comfort material to the outside surface of a wall of a cavity of the ostomy pouch whereby at least part of the slit film material is adjacent, facing and unbonded to the outside surface of the front wall. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 19  wherein the step laminating a layer of slit film material directly to a sheet of comfort material, is conducted temporally separately from the step of bonding the inside surface of the sheet of woven comfort material to a wall of the pouch, at least 12 hours before bonding the inside surface of the sheet of comfort material to the wall. 
     
     
         21 . A method according to any of  claims 18 to 20  wherein the method comprises bonding the first surface of the sheet of comfort material to the periphery of the wall of the cavity of the ostomy pouch, and the method of bonding is welding. 
     
     
         22 . A method according to any of  claims 18 to 21  wherein the cavity is defined by a rear wall and a front wall joined at their peripheries and formed of flexible sheet material;
 and the method comprises providing a rear wall and a front wall formed of flexible sheet material and joining them at their peripheries; the method further including bonding the inside surface of the sheet of comfort material to one or more of the rear and/front wall of the ostomy pouch at the periphery thereof; wherein the method comprises simultaneously joining the front wall and the rear wall of the cavity, and bonding part of the first surface of the sheet of comfort material to at least one of the walls of the cavity. 
 
     
     
         23 . A method according to any of  claims 18 to 22  wherein the sheet of comfort material comprises two or more parts and the method includes arranging a plurality of parts of a sheet of comfort material, and bonding the plurality of parts of a sheet of comfort material to the pouch. 
     
     
         24 . An ostomy bag comprising a comfort layer laminate formed by the method of any of  claims 15 to 17 . 
     
     
         25 . An ostomy pouch formed by the method of any of  claims 18 to 23 .